Nicola Sturgeon has admitted that one of Scotland’s largest health boards has
been caught manipulating waiting lists in order to meet her treatment
targets.

The Health Minister said NHS Lothian had “betrayed” patients by offering them treatment in England at short notice then marking them as unavailable if they refused to travel.

When they declined, they were not included on a list of people not treated within statutory waiting times. In other cases, patients’ medical records were retrospectively altered to falsely show they were unavailable for treatment.

Miss Sturgeon has stipulated that 90 per cent of people should start hospital treatment within 18 weeks of being referred by GPs. Figures published last month showed this target was being met.

NHS Lothian’s behaviour is deeply embarrassing for the Health Minister as in opposition she made great political capital from the then Labour and Liberal Democrat administration using “hidden waiting lists”.

These operated in a very similar manner to NHS Lothian’s practice, with patients not treated within statutory waiting times because they were supposedly unavailable.

The extent of the practice was uncovered by an external review ordered by Miss Sturgeon and conducted by PwC covering the period from April to December 2011.

In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Miss Sturgeon said the practice was “completely unacceptable” and ordered an investigation into the health board’s management culture.

“My reaction to this report is one of disappointment and considerable anger. Waiting times guarantees matter. I will not tolerate the manipulation of them,” she told MSPs.

“What angers me about NHS Lothian’s behaviour is not just that it’s a betrayal of their own patients – and it is – but it also undermines the reputation of thousands of NHS staff members across the country.”

Although the “clear majority” of patients were treated within waiting time targets, she admitted that a “significant number” were not but were excluded from the health board’s figures.

She said disciplinary proceedings are under way into what could be “serious misconduct”. The report found NHS managers put staff under pressure to find “tactical solutions” to waiting times rather than tackle the root causes.

The minister said she was satisfied Scotland’s other health boards were acting in accordance with official waiting times guidance. However, each board will conduct an audit of their waiting times management.

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour health spokesman, said: “The people of Scotland should be able to trust the Scottish government statistics on waiting times. This unfortunately suggests they may not be worth the paper they're written on.”

David McLetchie, a Tory MSP for the Lothian region, said was “appalled”, adding: “Can we have any confidence that the heads which should roll will roll?”